Category Archives: Featured Work

Painted Garden Ornament Cat

This is Hopey the cat. This unique project began with a purchased cement garden ornament. I painted her from multiple photographs supplied by the family to resemble their beloved family pet.  It was important to give some life to the face.  I painted just a little eye peeking out from the sleeping face with which the cement was originally cast.  I think it makes all the difference.  When you come across Hopey ‘sleeping’ in the garden you have to look twice to see she isn’t going to wake up and meow at you!  I have included a picture of what the cement cat looked like early in the painting process when I had just begun to add some color over my coats of white sealant.

Hydrangeas in Winter Plaque II

This is a second version of a plaque I did two years ago which I recently painted again upon request from a client.  I never do two identical paintings, but I do revisit some of them on occasion especially if someone asks me to.  This is the same pagoda I painted in the background of the first version but the faded browning blossoms could be just be  blooms ‘from a different year’.   I love how Hydrangeas can be beautiful all year long.   I am including here a photo of an early stage of the paint process before the flowers were painted.  This plaque is 12″ wide and 9″ tall.

Foot Stool with Cut Flowers

This little footstool was commissioned as a companion piece to the Garden Fence Chest of Drawers.  The Sunflowers and Hollyhocks are painted in the trompe l’oeil style of realism.  They just pop off the surface!   The legs of the stool are the same blue as the sky in the first piece and the faux white slats match those I painted on the top of the chest.   Even the underside continues the illusion of slats.  And, yes, I painted my signature insect; Can you see the lady bug?  It is important that the little side buttons are painted white as they visually connect the top to the base, but I resisted the urge to painted anything additional on the blue surfaces because the stool told me No!!

Morning Glory Box

Preview

Morning Glories on a nice wood box!   Five sides are painted with intense Blue Heaven Morning Glories on this nicely crafted wooden box.   A fat bumble bee visits on the top and there is a little lady bug on a stem and a dragon fly underneath by my signature.  Yes it opens and closes securely, almost secretly! Keep something special hidden inside.  The box is 5″ tall and 4 1/2 ” squarish.  For sale for $55 plus shipping and handling.  Please contact me through this site if you are interested.